Raymond James Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Raymond James restated their outperform rating on shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $750.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $625.00.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an outperform rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a hold rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $722.26.

KLA Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $713.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $96.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34. KLA has a 12 month low of $369.66 and a 12 month high of $729.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $686.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $603.00.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA will post 22.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in KLA in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB, Display and Component Inspection.